The Future is Scary…

… I would be lying if I told you it isn’t.

As seniors, we’re coming up onto the brink of the unknown. Up until this point in our lives, everything has been somewhat scripted. Go to elementary school, then middle school, then high school, then college.

Now what?

Many of us have no idea what our lives will look like in a year or two, let alone when we’re 45. It’s uncertain. It’s scary. Kinda like our football team this year. The script is now over. Now it’s our turn to pick up the pen and write.

I feel the tension. I’m excited for the future in so many ways. I’ll be spending this upcoming summer interning in New York City and will be back for one more semester before launching off into the unknown. But to tell you the truth, I’m tempted to want to stay in Athens forever. It’s comfortable. It’s familiar. It’s flat out awesome. I mean check out that amazing sunset I get to see from my back deck every night. So romantic!! Ya feel?

But I love this right here. My all-time favorite post I’ve ever seen on Facebook. It is so truth-filled. Such a reminder of God’s promises and the reason why He has put mankind on the earth: To glorify and enjoy Him forever.

Any time I have a mini internal freak out about my life and what lies ahead, I often revisit this post. It’s by the band Tenth Avenue North, posted back in April. It eloquently captures the essence of what it means to live a full, adventurous life that is always moving forward towards what is to come for those who are in Christ.  Enjoy!

 

Life in the Rear View.

There’s just something about the last day of tour. It almost feels like summer camp,

like the last day of school.

Everyone’s hugging, promising they’ll write, “Hey man, I’ll see you this festival season. Have a great summer!”

Tears are shed.
 Fist bumps exchanged…
you can almost taste the strange mixture of relief and sadness in the air. 
It’s equal parts remembering and moving on, celebration and loss. 
And if I’m honest, there’s a little part of me scared of what’s ahead, wishing we could stay here in what we’ve known, 
stay in what’s safe.

But there’s the rub.

Who said anything about life being safe?

Oh, our God who loves us, He certainly is good, but safe?

I mean, where’s the fun in that?

Besides, lately I’m learning,

life cannot be lived backwards.

Life must be risked.

It must be now.

It must be ever-moving,

Ever-learning, ever-reaching. “Further up and Further in!”

C.S. Lewis so accurately surmised.

Or to agree with Paul,

“The one thing I do, forgetting what is behind, and pressing on toward what lies ahead.” You see, our God is infinite, so we should expect this march of time, to be but a dim shadow of the glory of his Endlessness.

He is the God of the present tense, so this moment, this wild life in our veins and ache in our hearts is a calling out to touch the divine; to participate with a God who is always now. This present moment is the only place where time touches eternity, so let’s breathe and risk and let joy rush in.

Let’s keep on.

Keep pressing on for the prize.

Pressing on toward only ever-increasing joy, because, like Peter reminds us, we have, “a living hope…an inheritance, kept in heaven, undefiled, unblemished, and unfading.”

Hindsight may be 20/20, but I want to fix my eyes on what is unseen.

Why?

Because, “If Christianity is true

The good things we have cannot be lost. The bad things turn out for good,

and the best is yet to come.”

-Tim Keller

THE. BEST. IS. YET. TO. COME.

So my friends, come hell or high water,

Let fear lose its grip on us. “The life that lies ahead is more than all we leave behind.” Cheers to an amazing 36 shows.

 

And, if I might add, cheers to an incredible time here in Athens and to the time we still have left.